BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Thursday said steps were being taken to encourage servitors of the Jagannath Temple in Puri to be civil to the devotees.In a written reply to a question from Berhampur MLA Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik in the assembly, law minister Pratap Jena said the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration would maintain discipline in the temple in adherence to a recent interim order of the Supreme Court.In his question, Chyau Patnaik sought a reply from Jena on the conduct of servitors towards the devotees. Jena said the temple body had received complaints of misconduct against 18 servitors in the past three years. "The directive of the apex court will be implemented to bring in more discipline among the servitors," Jena said.On June 8, the Supreme Court banned collection of dakshina by servitors from devotees. The Supreme Court's directive assumes significance as the Jagannath Temple is often in the news for poor conduct of servitors and delay in solemnisation of daily rituals.In May, an IT professional from Thane and his wife were assaulted by three servitors when they refused to pay the dakshina demanded by them.In April, the devotees were deprived of Mahaprasad for four days due to a stand-off between different groups of servitors and the temple administration.

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